Identification of the end of an airport runway is an important safety concern, especially when one considers the large numbers of lights and lighting systems located in the vicinity of airports and runways. Additionally, lights identifying the ends of runways are important where runways lack contrast with the surrounding terrain, where reduced visibility are a concern due to, for example, poor weather conditions, where a runway threshold is displaced from the runway extremity, and other reasons.
Runway end identifier lights (“REILs”) are installed at many airports to provide identification of the approach end of the runways located at such airports. REIL systems may include of a pair of synchronized flashing lights located on each side of the runway threshold. REILs may be either omnidirectional or unidirectional facing the approach area.
Traditional REIL utilize xenon or other types of illumination due to the requirement of high-visibility—e.g., REILs should have a range of approximately 3 miles during the daytime, and 20 miles at night. However, such traditional lights can create a hazard when the light source reaches its end-of-life. Accordingly, there is a need for a REIL system having a longer lifetime and including redundancy.